As if he sensed the depth of her sorrow and distress, Uriel relented a little. ‘Leave such instructions and clues as you may for the human you have adopted,’ he told her kindly. ‘Then he will have a purpose, and you can at least leave with the knowledge that you have done all you can. The fate of the world will be back in the hands of its own children, but you will have armed them for the battle ahead.’
‘And how can I explain where I’m going to my poor Dael? He loves and depends on me, and knows nothing of my true identity, but I am the only person who has ever cared for him. It would break his heart to think I was deserting him.’
But Uriel had an answer even for this. ‘Athina, you have no choice. Let him believe that you are dead,’ he advised. ‘It will be much kinder than letting him live with the knowledge that you have deserted him, and the vain hope that one day he will find you again.’
‘And you’ll also be removing any temptation on my part to come back and visit him from time to time,’ Athina pointed out drily.
‘That is also important,’ her fellow Guardian confessed. ‘We can use our powers to leave the facsimile of a body behind, and you can leave him a message of some sort to warn him of the dangers faced by the world, and advising him to help the ones from your vision.’
Though her heart was breaking, Athina spread her hands in surrender. ‘Very well,’ she said, fighting to keep her voice strong and steady. ‘It shall be as you say. Help me make my preparations swiftly, Uriel, for this world has such a hold on me that I dare not linger here.’
The colours of the energy-shell that was Uriel flickered and grew brighter. ‘Come, then. Let us leave as soon as we may.’
Yet Athina hung back, hating to think of causing Dael such unhappiness; unable to contemplate the idea of leaving him. ‘I wish I could say goodbye,’ she whispered. But she had no choice. Tomorrow, when he awoke, he must, of necessity, grieve for her death, and she must return to her lonely eternity by the Timeless Lake. Could she do that to him? Could she leave now, just when she’d finally discovered those she sought?
Athina had her doubts.
‘No, wait. I must have a little more time, Uriel. Only a few days longer, to leave the instructions and clues of which we have spoken, so that these children may be armed for the battle that lies ahead.’
Uriel’s energy darkened. ‘Beware, my sister, lest you go too far. Already your peril is growing.’
‘Just a little while,’ Athina argued. ‘It will not take long for me to set my plans into motion, then you have my word that I will leave immediately.’
‘You must,’ Uriel said. He sighed. ‘Very well. Soon the sun will be rising. I will give you this dawn and the next to make your arrangements. But be warned. If you have not returned by the third sunrise, I will come back - and this time I will bring the others. You know what that means. The penalties for you will be severe. Farewell, Beloved. Think carefully, and act wisely. Your time here is running out.’
Then he was gone, and the room seemed very dark without him. Athina shuddered. Full well she understood what a narrow escape she’d had. She would have to act swiftly indeed if she wanted to save this world, of all her creations the dearest to her heart.
The Cailleach turned back to the fireplace and once again began to summon her visions in the flames. Now that she had found the others, it was important that she relocate the captive Tiolani. Already the game was afoot. All the important pieces had been brought together in the storm-torn forest, but currently everyone was lost and scattered, beset by dangers on every side. So her first task must be to gather them all together, for only then could she position them to her satisfaction. And there was no time to waste.
With the ghost of a smile overshadowing her sadness, Athina summoned her powers, and sent her magic forth into the woods.
30
TRUST AND TREACHERY
Athina already had the early stages of a plan worked out. Once she had brought together all the major protagonists of her vision, plus the handful of others that her instincts told her were important - and had told them all the salient facts - they would have a chance to formulate a common vision and work towards it. She might have to leave this place, but at least she would put its future into the best hands possible. It was all she could do. It was vital she accomplish as much as she could in the hours she had left - no matter what the cost to herself.
Resolutely she searched, scanning the shadowy spaces beneath the crowding trees, sending forth her mind while her body stayed safely in the tower. To her relief, she discovered that fate had lent a helping hand. The Xandim of her vision had already found Iriana, so that was one less thing to worry about. The others she sought, however, those strange half-Phaerie who had been grounded in the storm with their Xandim mounts and must be somewhere in the forest - they would need to be gathered too.
It did not take her long to find them, sad, soaked and separated, trying to shelter from the wild elements as best they could. With relief, Athina sent her magic to each of them in the form of a glowing red globe: a guide to bring them together and unite them with Iriana and her companions. After she sent the spells forth, she noticed for the first time a drag of weariness in her mind and in her bones, and felt fear twist its icy coils inside her guts. Uriel’s prediction was already coming true. Her powers were beginning to weaken in this place. If she persisted in using them here, where they could not be renewed, she stood a good chance of losing them altogether.
Athina gritted her teeth. ‘I’d better hurry, then,’ she muttered.
All at once the fatigue fell away, dispelled by a jolt of excitement. She had found Tiolani at last, and the fate of Hellorin’s daughter was hanging by a thread.
A pounding headache.
Cramped and aching limbs.
The clammy, dank chill of wet clothing.
The sickening, sinking sensations of horror and fear.
All these feelings avalanched down on Tiolani with returning consciousness. Making things worse was the disorientating knowledge that, although she couldn’t seem to move a muscle, somehow her body was in motion. Between pain and confusion, it took a little while to pick through her memories and establish what, exactly, was happening to her. From the pattern of meshes digging into her skin, she realised that she was thoroughly cocooned in the net that had saved her life, and was being carried along between two or more of the accursed ferals who had captured her. She was wrapped so tightly that she couldn’t move, and there were too many layers around her to let her see out properly.
Her original hope - that this was all some horrible nightmare - was soon quashed. Not even the worst dream could produce such an abominable smell. Ever since the first ambush, all those months ago, human odour had been unbearable to her, but this stench of feral, unwashed humans - only the fact that her stomach was empty from her earlier vomiting saved her from throwing up again.
She remembered falling from that thrice-cursed Corisand; being rescued, then the grim rain of arrows, the death-screams of her friends and their mounts. She remembered the terror and the helplessness, waiting for the ferals to get to her. And, seared like a brand into her mind, the recollection of hearing them say that Ferimon, her beloved, had betrayed her father and herself, and been responsible for her brother’s death.
No! It’s not true. It’s NOT!
Desperately she pulled her thoughts away to other matters, telling herself that the ferals lied, that their stupid wild tales were of no importance now, when her life was at stake. Pretending that the knowledge was not now lodged, like a poisoned dart, in the bitter depths of her soul.